1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is related to radio frequency (RF) systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for monitoring dielectric constant of a printed circuit board on which one or more RF components and/or subsystems are mounted.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In RF systems, it is important to monitor the dielectric constant characteristics of the RF substrates used in high-frequency applications, including, for example, 77 GHz radar systems. Many such RF substrates have not been thoroughly characterized at such frequencies, and, due to manufacturing or processing tolerances, can vary in their center values, which can significantly affect the performance of antennas and the RF front end. Currently used resonators or transmission lines require sensitive ground-signal-ground (GSG) probing devices, which limit their application due to cost and time required to perform such sensitive probing measurements.